A passive optical network (PON) is one system for providing network access over “the last mile.” The PON is a point to multi-point network comprised of an optical line terminal (OLT) at the central office, an optical distribution network (ODN), and a plurality of optical network terminals (ONTs) at the customer premises. Downstream data transmissions may be broadcast to all of the ONTs, while upstream data transmissions may be transmitted to the OLT using time division multiple access (TDMA) or wave division multiple access (WDMA). To aid in the management and control of the plural ONTs, an optical management and control interface (OMCI) is provided at the OLT and the ONTs.
There are several problems associated with the existing OMCI. One of the problems associated with the OMCI is that many portions of the OMCI are not required, but are instead optional or conditional. Thus, the OLT cannot know which portions of the OMCI that a particular ONT supports. Another problem associated with the OMCI is that the OMCI is frequently upgraded. Thus, the OLT and/or ONTs may support a particular version of the OMCI for a time, but then may not support the upgraded versions of the OMCI. Further, the plural ONTs may not have the same configurations. For example, one ONT in a PON may support a certain OMCI version with certain OMCI features, while another ONT in the same PON may support a different OMCI version with different OMCI features. Finally, the OMCI has to be customized to different manufacturers' equipment. If the OMCI is configured for one manufacturer's ONTs and is installed in the OLT in such a configuration, then the OMCI will not recognize the OMCI from other manufacturers' ONTs. Consequently, a need exists for a solution that overcomes the defects in the existing OMCI.